This is the second
and final article based on an FAO mission to Iran (constituted by Dr. Devin Bartley and
Dr. Krishen Rana of the FAO Fisheries Department) to help SHILAT evaluate stocking
pogrammes and the management of aquatic genetic resources in aquaculture.

Iran
Promotes

Aquaculture

Development

Krishen Rana1and
D.M. Bartley 2

1 Data and Statistics Unit

2 Fishery Resources
Division

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the
SHILAT and staff, in particular, Mr Hossain Abdolhay, Mr Yousefpor and Mr Maygolynejad,
both during and following mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

 narrow
the national variation in per capita fish consumption which currently ranges from below
1kg/yr. in Central Provinces to over 20kg/yr in coastal provinces,

 raise apparent per capita fish consumption to 6.5kg,

 sustain and increase the employment security of the fisherfolk,
particularly in the Northern Provinces, and

 diversify the economy and increase non-oil exports.

Developments in capture fisheries have been published in a previous issue of FAN.
The purpose if this article is to highlight recent issues and forthcoming challenges
related to aquaculture development in IRI.

Introduction

At present, the average per capita fish consumption in the Islamic Republic of
Iran (IRI) is low, at around 4.5 kg compared with the world average of 13.5 kg. To
increase average consumption to the desired 6.5 kg level by the year 2020, the total
fishery output in the IRI would need to increase from 382,000 metric tonnes (mt) in 1995
to 670,000 mt. At present, the Caspian Sea region and other inland waters produce around
60,000 and 59,000 mt of fish, respectively. The plan, however, is to increase production
from these water bodies to 420,000 mt by 2020 to satisfy the projected per capita
consumption. Accordingly, the IRI has identified fisheries, in particular aquaculture, as
a high priority area for stabilizing and increasing fish production; more specifically,
to:

Background to aquaculture development

Aquaculture development in the IRI started in the early 1970's with technical
assistance from the Soviet Union for the artificial propagation of sturgeon
(Acipenseridae) fingerlings for restocking the Caspian Sea. Since then, the capacity to
mass produce other Caspian sea species such the mahi sephid (Rutilus frisii kutum),
Caspian trout (Salmo trutta caspius), bream (Abramis brama), pike-perch (Stizostedion
lucioperca), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and cyprinids for restocking
other suitable inland water bodies was rapidly acquired by SHILAT, the Iranian Fisheries
Company charged with developing national programmes for development, management, and
conservation of aquatic resources for fisheries and aquaculture.

Reproductive
and seed rearing technologies and infrastructure has been disseminated to private farmers
in an effort at privatization and strengthening of the sector. Aquaculture has since
expanded to culture of food fish in raceways (trout) and ponds (cyprinids). Other species
are also being targeted for future culture. Development projects on the farming of penaeid
shrimp(Peneaus semisulcatusand P. indicus) in the Gulf
region and along the southeastern area of the Caspian Sea are currently underway. The IRI
have also initiated projects to evaluate the feasibility of culturing Artemia cyst,
grouper, pearl oyster, and aquatic plants.

Current status of aquaculture production

The Government has been successful in its efforts to raise aquaculture output and
this is reflected in the overall expansion rate of the sector at 8.2 %/yr during
1990-1996. To date, five species contribute to aquaculture output in the IRI (Figure 1).
In 1996, production amounted to 30,000 mt, valued at US$ 306.6 million. Production of the
major species, rainbow trout, Onchorincusmykiss, silver carp, Aristichthys
molitrix, and bighead, A. nobilis, increased at 27, 11 and 7 %/yr between 1991
and1996. The Chinese carps: silver carp, grass carp, (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and
bighead carp, and common carp dominated production. In 1996, the two groups accounted for
93% (28,000 mt) of reported aquaculture production. Following the introduction of Chinese
carps in the 70s, there has been a shift from traditional common carp monoculture to
polyculture of Chinese and common carp. The increasing production of silver carp reflects
the higher stocking ratio of this phytoplankton feeder in the polyculture system despite
its lower retail market price (R2,500- 3,000/kg in 1995) (3,000 Rials = 1 US$) compared to
grass carp (R5,000-6,000 in 1995).

Incentives for expanding aquaculture

Iran is actively pursuing a holistic approach for aquaculture development,
building on one of its key strengths--technology for mass artificial propagation of seed
and infrastructure for restocking inland and coastal waters. To promote aquaculture as an
independent economic activity, the IRI has taken several initial steps to encourage
private sector involvement. These include:

 making the private sector solely responsible for fingerling production for
ongrowing,

 providing low interest loans,

 subsidizing feed ingredients for feed production,

 providing low price fingerlings from state hatcheries,

 granting twenty-year tax exemption for farms,

 providing low priced or free land with service, such as roads and canals
for shrimp farms, and

 mounting effective public promotion initiatives to increase fish
consumption, particularly in the Central region of the IRI, where fish eating habits are
not well established.

These recent initiatives of the Government have proved successful in attracting
private investment in both the seed production and ongrowing segments of the sector. In
1996, around 20 private cyprinid and 10 private trout fingerling production hatcheries
were operational. In case of rainbow trout, 80 private ongrowing farms were operational in
12 provinces. Between 1992 and 1996, the area under rainbow trout production increased
from 80,000 to 166,000 m2 (raceway area) and production increased from 775 to
1,900 mt.

Current situation and capacity

Production of major species groups

The culture of carps, trouts and marine shrimp currently form the basis of
Iranian aquaculture.

Carps

Carps are primary farmed in three main provinces: Gilan, Mazandaran and
Khuzestan. Production of carp seed for grow-out by private industry is now primarily done
by the private sector. Carp broodstock selection is usually based on head-size, color, and
gill structure (surface and shape of filter) and adults are usually used for 3-4 years and
then replaced. A key factor in the successful transfer of seed production to the private
sector was the switch from the Hungarian method of seed production using small incubators
and small spawning tanks in which

Highly engineered farm in the north of Iran using flow through raceway
system for ongrowing rainbow trout.

handling
mortalities were high to the Chinese method of using concrete circular tanks fitted with
egg collecting devices for spawning and egg collection/incubation, in which intervention
in the spawning process is minimal.

Carps are ongrown to market size in production systems that vary from simple
ponds managed on a part-time basis to capital intensive and professionally engineered and
constructed farms managed on a full time basis. In 1994 there were around 2,583 registered
warmwater fish farms in the country, with a combined pond water surface of approximately
8,000 ha. In Gilan Province alone there are about 12 private carp hatcheries and 2,200
ongrowing carp farms with around 3,500 ha of ponds.

The bighead, silver, grass and common carp are predominantly reared under
semi-intensive static polyculture conditions, in which organic and inorganic fertilizers
and supplementary feeds are commonly used. In such systems, carps are produced in a one
year culture cycle. Carp fingerlings (5-10g) are stocked at between 2,000- 6,000/ha in
March-April. Lower densities are stocked when larger sized marketable fish are required.
Ponds are fertilized with urea (135-1500 kg/ha/yr), ammonium phosphate (80-575 kg/ha/yr)
and manure (3-10 mt/ha/yr) and fish are fed a supplementary diet consisting of a variety
of grains (100-6,000 kg/ha/yr). Some farmers practice intensive monoculture of common
carps in aerated ponds and use high protein (30-40 %) pelleted feed. Marketable fish are
harvested between November-February and production varies between 1.6 to 5.5 mt/ha.

Rainbow trout

Culture of rainbow trout is restricted to the cooler northern areas of the
country and the Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges. Typically, rainbow trout farms are
small (below 50 mt/yr) but some have a potential for producing 50 - 200 mt/yr.
Most of the farms use the raceway system of production. SHILAT has conducted a specific
training course for civil engineers to meet the challenges of constructing and managing
such production systems.

Seed production and intensive ongrowing of rainbow trout in IRI is well developed
using standard methods of breeding, larval rearing and aerated grow-out raceways.
Currently, many of the farms import eyed eggs from Scotland and Norway and use these eggs
as source of brood stock when mature. In 1995, SHILAT imported 1 million eyed eggs from
Scotland. Survival rate to eyed egg stage of 80%, and 70% to alevin stage is common, and
in 1996 some 10 million fingerlings were produced by the private sector.

For ongrowing, trout are fed on commercial pellets of varying sizes produced by
Chineh, the only feed manufacturer in IRI and supported by the State. The conversion
efficiency of manufactured pelleted feed is in the order of 1 : 1.1 - 1.4 ( wet : dry
weight basis). Some farmers manufacture their own moist diets on-farm for broodstock,
larval rearing and grow-out. The culture period to market size (about 30 cm in length and
at least 225 g in weight) varies depending on water temperature. Slow growth rate,
principally due to water temperatures as low as 2oC in the north, results in a
14 month production cycle, whereas the warmer more constant water temperatures (ca13oC)
around Tehran reduces the culture cycle to 9 months. Risk of disease introduction, rising
production costs and growing

knowledge base
in IRI is likely to result in the banning of any further importation of eyed eggs into the
country.

Marine shrimp

Penaeid culture in the southern provinces along the Gulf and Sea of Oman has been
identified by the IRI, since 1992, as a means of generating non-oil export earnings. To
date some 200,000 ha of marginal agricultural lands have been allocated for shrimp
farming. In addition to these lands, the IRI is promoting pond culture of Penaeids (Peneaus
semisulcatusand P. indicus) using large tracks of marginal agricultural
land on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea in Gorgan and Gonbad Province as a means of
providing alternative employment in the north.

At present six development sites totaling 18,000 ha, out of the 200,000 allocated
to shrimp farming, have been identified and about 4,000 ha are scheduled to be developed
in the current Five year plan. In the southern provinces the government is developing each
site by building the necessary infrastructure; the developed areas will be ceded to
potential aquafarmers (20ha/farm). Shrimp farming is centered on the development of
species indigenous to the Gulf, particularly Penaeus semisulcatus and P. indicus.
The private sector in IRI produced 93 % of the 136 mt of shrimp in 1995 and achieved
yields of 7.4 mt/ha. In the Caspian sea region, production yield of 4 mt/ha has been
reported. To ensure sustained high productivity, the Government is also developing plans
to regulate the sub-sector and provide training, loans, feed and seed.

Artemia

The potential to produce high valued Artemia cysts and biomass in the
hyper-saline (100-150ppt) Uromia Lake to procure live feed for the expanding penaeid
farming and for export is being actively explored. The lake, which has an area of 6000 km2
and has the potential to produce 300 tonnes cysts. A pilot processing plant had already
been established on the lake shores and, in 1996, 20 mt of cysts were produced (pers.
Comm. Mr Abdolhay).

Potential for
further development

Hatchery technology exists in Iran for the several species that are only used in
restocking programmes. Therefore, potential exists to develop these species as
domesticated farmed fish. Table 1 lists some of these potential candidate species.
Although species of sturgeon are the obvious species for culture,

their slow
growth rate is a hindrance and there are efforts to use faster growing species or hybrids.
There is also interest in utilizing bream, Abramis brama, in polyculture systems,
but this species has shown poor tolerance to low oxygen. Further efforts to find more
suitable stock or to improve genetically the local bream so that it could tolerate
polyculture conditions should be pursued. This species has a higher market value than
Chinese carps and would be expected to also increase the value of aquaculture production.
Mahi sephid may be a candidate for saline soils unsuitable for agriculture. However,
research on how to culture the species past the juvenile stage is required. A UNDP/FAO
mission on "Development of National Strategy for Aquaculture Shrimp Management"
(IRA/97/020/A/08/12) is currently underway.

Although aquaculture development is relatively new, the IRI has made significant
progress in promoting aquaculture as an independent food producing activity. They have :

· allocated natural resources for aquaculture development for controlled
expansion,

· taken steps to improve processing, marketing, and related infrastructure,

· invested in strengthening human capacity, and

· successfully raised demand for aquatic products, especially trout.

To maintain and extend this progress, however, several constraints need to
addressed on an ongoing basis. Efforts are needed to:

The FAO mission of Dr. Bartley and Dr. Rana have identified specific activities
to meet some of the immediate challenges to aquaculture development in the IRI. These
included the development of a national broodstock programme for rainbow trout and other
species to:

· produce stocks better suited for local conditions and manage stocks to
maintain genetic integrity in the light of potential ban on importation of eyed trout
eggs,

The prognosis of aquaculture in the IRI is very good. The Government is taking
steps to elaborate a national aquaculture development plan in support of the sector and is
creating a positive enabling environment for the sustained development of aquaculture.